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Missing child portugal


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I saw it too on the 8 pm French news (France2 video) and I was also reminded of the little boy who disappeared in Greece (Ben Needham?) some 10 years ago and has not been been found.

On the UK news this morning, a report about a similar case involving a missing Portuguese child. The Portuguese relative was contrasting the efforts of the police in this case (because it relates to an English child and the British is are being very forceful) to the distinct lack of interest when his brother disappeared in similar circumstances 8 years ago: renewed pain for the Portuguese parents of missing children (video)

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Having had four children and now have eight grandchildren and one more on the way, yes, it is not a thing we would have done and we have been abroad with grandchildren on numerous occassions BUT negative remarks are not helpful at this time. I am sure the parents bitterly regret their actions and it is a reminder to all that even in the safest of areas the risk is just not worth it. Unfortunately, unlike the majority of sane people who would never harm a child there are some evil people in this world and it always pays to be on ones guard at all times. I would like to send the parents my heartfelt sympathy and to pray that this delightful little girl is with them safe and well very soon. What they must be going through does not bear thinking about and I do not think they need anyone casting blame as I am sure they feel enough regret themselves
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[quote user="Benjamin"]The difference here Twinkle is that you are in an environment which you know; these parents weren't.

[/quote]

That is exactly it. Also I would be worried about carbon dioxide poisoning (after what happened a few months back), a fire (with her being locked in) etc all in a place I did not know.

Originally reports said they were in a Tapas restaurant about 150M away, some now say 50M. On a map on the BBC website it's actually around 75M as the crow flies with a building between (which might be why they did not take a baby alarm) but about 100M on foot.

Twinkle - Is your daughter 4 years of age or under, I ask because that was age of the child (just her birthday was today).

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We often used to leave our eldest alone to dine with my parents in law who lived next door to us at the time. Of course the house was locked and we had a baby monitor with us. Had someone been watching our movements and established a pattern of behaviour then they would have had the opportunity of a snatch also. Same as in Twinkles case, anybody who knew her child was in the house would have had an opportunity to take her. This child and the movements of her parents would have been watched, it wasn't a chance breaking in. 

By Quillans 'rules' both Twinkle and myself are unfit parents. Perhaps you should let your daughter out of your sight for a moment Quillan, she might find a suitor then.

It's always the armchair protagonists who seem to shout the loudest when armed with hindsight, which is 20/20 vision.

 

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No she's 8 years old but I've been living here since she was born and go to the event every year when I'm not working myself.

I remember the day befor her 3rd birthday she slipped out of the house at my mother-in-laws while we were all chatting in the garden and disappeared for 40 minutes.  There were 5 of us hunting for her and my worse fear was at first that she'd fallen into one of the ditches or ponds surrounding my in-laws house.  Then I started imagining that some madman had driven down the lane and taken her. 

In the end my mother-in-laws lovely dog started walking down a the grass path outside their home and kept turning back to look at me (a real Lassie moment) and I just started running and running until I saw a speck of pink in the nearby farm.  She had toddled off almost a whole kilometre and was digging for carrots with the old man in his vegetable plot. 

It was the most horrendous 40 minutes of my whole life and the thoughts that went through my mind during the time looking for her made me physically wretch with grief and fear.  It's been 9 days for that mother (and father) and it's her little girls birthday to-day.  I don't know how they cope.

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Nor me .......I realy do hope that the person/s who have taken her , have done so to replace a child they have lost........she will be well looked after untill she is found. I have this thought in my mind as I do not have another explanation as to why the other 2 children were left in the same bed from where she was taken.

My damned printer wont print!

About 12 months after we moved here , youngest then aged 5 said she was going out to play, as it started to go dark and the streetlights started to warm up(this was how she knew it was time to comein) she didn't arrive, I went to one friends house ,eldest phoned another, then dad started to walk round the village, some mamans arrived and said they would go to look........nothing. I then went to check on which coat she had on, so we could tell people what she was wearing...............her coat was on her bed.........and she was asleep under her covers!!!!!!!!!

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Chris & Twinkle - Both of you were in places that you knew probably quite well and in a country you also knew. Would you do exactly the same thing Chris if you were on holiday in a strange country that you knew little or nothing about in a holiday resort?

My daughter lives in Hampstead and we are in SW France. My particular comment about her finding a partner was tongue in cheek hence the smiley. When she was 3/4 she was never left on her own and we certainly would never have dreamt of going out to dinner to a restaurant leaving her on her own.

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All I asked was for people to help by printing off the poster and putting it up in local bars,supermarkets campsites etc I did not ask for a discussion on the rights and wrongs of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance.

Some of these postings are extremely hurtful especially the original one from Quillan I hope and trust that he/she is never in a similar situation.The  comment was totally uncalled for.

I am a friend of the family and I was only passing on a genuine plea for help. On her 4th birthday today 12th May 2007 please refrain from any further comments about the circumstances but print off the posters and put them up locally.

This is a simple plea which will raise awareness amongst the whole population

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   The power of people can be amazing.  You are absolutely right, at least some people are doing somthing instead of moaning about the circumstances.  Have a heart!

Anyway, I've posted a thread already but I just wanted to add, I have posted an appeal on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=006&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=160116337020&rd=1&rd=1

Ebay has a huge internationally community, millions of internaiton transactions go on every day.

Please look at the appeal and add to you watch list - the more watchers, the more likely to appear on the home page and get hits.  Please then pass on to absolutely everyone you know.  Most people have an ebay account and when they are comminucating with the international community they can forward this on.

Please please look and lets do all we can.

Somebody somewhere knows something.

xxx

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I am really upset that the french media has not followed this story..as she could be in France.so close to Portugal.  My daughters and my mates at work had not even been aware of it till I spoke to them about it  and they watch TV all the time..can't someone get in touch with the french news so that they follow the story and is it on German and Italien news?  I feel so strongly for the poor parents who were thoughtless..but they are young and didn't realise the dangers..but millions of parents leave their children in their hotel room whilst they go out to eat, I know I'm in that trade (though i have never left my children even to go to the loo on there own, but then my family and friends and my kids have always said I'm over the top..paranoid mum! lol) but what worries me also is that due to the media and this little girl having her eye so special that the kidnappers may be scared that they will be caught because she is so special that they have to get rid of her? I pray for her and her family
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i am just praying that someone has snatched her to replace a lost and much loved child, I am not passing any judgements I think that its a case of there fior the grace of god go I ,  I used to leave my kids in the pram outside the shop to go shopping until we heard of a snatch in Cardiff, I  suppose if I thought about it there woud be other sins.   I am sure that the couple are condeming themselves enough,     did try the ebay thing but the link did not work    
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I think everyone has had one of those terrible moments when a child wanders off and you are beside yourself thinking the worst.  It happenned with my eldest son when he was about four so I can but imagine how Maddie's parents are feeling. 

My erstwhile ex-mother-in-law was supposed to be looking after him but was so engrossed with piling her money into a slot machine that he got bored and wandered off in search of fun.  We found him an hour later at the local rec playing football with a load of older boys who had him in goal for them, he was safe but it did not relieve my sense of anger that we had entrusted him to someone who was more engrossed in losing her money in a bandit.   Mother-in-law or not, she was wrong.

Now whilst I pray that Maddie will be found safe, I still cannot fathom why she was left alone with two younger children in an unlocked apartment, not least because any of them could have awoken and gone walkabout in search of their parents.   They might even have ended up in the swimming pool as they made their way to the Tapas Bar but I would have thought that their wandering off was a greater danger than some spurious excuse of "there might be a fire so I left the doors open...."   Would it not have made sense to have one set of parents in the group look after the assorted offspring and taking it in turns for the Night Out? Fair enough it might ruin the sense of occasion but this is surely the ultimate price being paid for a moments thoughtlessness.     And then we all know that restaurants in Europe are far more child-friendly than here so why did they not just take the children with them if this night out was so vital?   Sadly none of this matters because a little girl is missing.

I pray that Madeleine is found safe and well, but if nothing else it will serve as a timely reminder to anyone contemplating leaving their own children alone whilst they pursue an evening a deux unhindered by kids.    The McCanns must be distraught and I really do feel for them.   

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I think Quillan is expressing thoughts many of us harbour - but are just to afraid to say it given the nightmare the parents are going through - so good on you mate. 

I have four kids of my own and it would NEVER have entered my head to leave them alone like that when they were small. Many years ago when they were tiny, my then 4 year old daughter, along with her cousin of around the same age, were left in the care of my married brother in law for the evening. I found out later that he'd left them tucked up on the settee and spent a couple of hours over the road in a pub. Only my wife stopped me punching his lights out.

Lets all hope she's found safe and well.

 

 

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